OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:33 AM – Monday, December 9, 2024
A group of unidentified gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Sunday, following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria by the rebel Islamists, while President Joe Biden issued support for the new regime.
The gunmen were reportedly not affiliated with the rebel group that sacked Damascus according to Iranian state media, and were reportedly rummaging through documents inside of the building, which Iranian officials vacated prior to the city’s collapse.
“It is said that the Iranian embassy was stormed alongside nearby stores by an armed group different from the group now controlling [most of] Syria,” stated Iranian state TV.
Meanwhile, Assad, whose family seized power over fifty years ago, fled the country, seeking asylum in Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry revealed that Assad had reportedly left the rebel group “instructions” in order to “transfer power peacefully.”
The city was captured by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former member of al-Qaeda who fought against American troops in Syria and Iraq.
Al-Sharaa has since attempted to distance himself from islamist extremism, and issued calls of religious tolerance and pluralism following the death of the Assad regime.
“Our message to all the sects of Syria, is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone,” he stated.
“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” Al-Sharaa added.
Despite Al-Sharaa’s comments, Syrian experts believe that the HTS will attempt to impose a “Taliban-esque society.”
“HTS is a group that is an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda and has connections to Turkey. Their endgame is to create a Taliban-esque society with a few tweaks,” stated Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iranian and Syria proxy groups.
Additionally, President Biden recently issued a statement on the fall of Assad’s brutal regime, calling it a “moment of historic opportunity,” and announced that his administration would support the new regime to “help them seize an opportunity and manage the risk.”
Biden continued, praising his administration for weakening Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, opening a window for Syria to break free from Assad’s rule, “because all three of them are far weaker today than they were when I took office.”
“The upshot for all this is, for the first time ever, neither Russia nor Iran nor Hezbollah could defend this abhorrent regime in Syria,” Biden added. “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East.”
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